Take me out to the concession stand. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack — along with a taco salad, a chicken cordon bleu sandwich and a veggie tray to go.
Stadium and arena venues are an important area of growth in the food-service industry, according to the July 2003 issue of the National Culinary Review. The article mentioned some of the upscale fare being served around the country, such as grilled duck breast, lobster-filled ravioli, grilled veal chops and smoked beef tenderloin.
Well, we didn't find duck or lobster when we checked out the menus of four local outdoor sports and entertainment venues — the USANA Amphitheater, Franklin Covey Field, Miller Field in Provo and Lindquist Field in Ogden. Hot dogs and nachos are still the heavy hitters, but the concession stands have more options.
"A diverse menu caters to your season ticket holders who come to more than one or two games," said John Stein, general manager of the Provo Angels. "You need to make available things that aren't commonly found at ball games, so they aren't held captive by hot dogs seven nights in a row."
The food service at the new USANA Amphitheater has a different situation, with most patrons only coming a few times a season.
"We are more of a beverage facility — we sell a lot of soda, water and beer," said Dan Beaulieu, president of Diamond Creations, the amphitheater's food-service provider. "So we try to focus on making four or five items and doing them really well, with nice upscale quality food."
For instance, they use real cheddar cheese instead of processed, and better-quality "sheepherder" buns. The 1/3-pound burger is sprinkled with sea salt and cracked peppercorns for a crunchy flavor burst.
We checked out some of Utah's major outdoor venues that don't allow you to bring in outside food or drink, so unless you chow beforehand, you're at the mercy of their menus.
We came. We saw. We ate. Here are some of the highlights:
Dog gone good. "When people come to a ballpark they are in the mood for a hot dog more than anything else," said Mike Daniels, who oversees group sales for the Salt Lake Stingers' games at Franklin Covey Field. "Everything else is a distant second. We sell 10 hot dogs to one or two chicken sandwiches."
On Pioneer Day, 10,870 Chicago Red Hot Dogs were sold during the Stingers game — which Beaulieu thinks may be a record for Utah. Prices were dropped to $2 They come on a poppy-seed bun with tomatoes, pickle relish, peppers and a sprinkle of celery salt. They come in both 6-inch and foot-long.
In Ogden, fans go for the Polish dogs and brats done Wisconsin-style — marinated in beer for about a half hour before grilling. You can squirt on your own mustard and ketchup, and add sauerkraut and relish. There's also a help-yourself table with tomatoes, lettuce and onions; and you can add a helping of pasta salad for $1 more.
Tell me about it. A burger by any other name might be just as tasty, but the USANA's menu board descriptions rival any fine-dining menu. For instance, it's not just a cheeseburger, it's a "Grilled Cheddar Burger" served with vine-ripened tomatoes on a sheepherder's bun."
"We wanted our menu boards to read like a restaurant menu to make it more appetizing," said Beaulieu.
All those mouth-watering words should make it more tempting to pony up $5 for a burger. But, sometimes even that's not enough to entice people to eat, as Beaulieu has found since the facility opened in July. "At the Dave Matthews Band and the Beach Boys concerts they ate a lot of food, but at Bob Dylan and Poison they just drank a lot of beer," he observed. "Usually with a younger crowd, they don't eat as much."
Drink it up: At Miller Field, home of the Provo Angels, none of the beverages contain caffeine or alcohol. "It might be out of the ordinary elsewhere, but for here it's perfectly normal," said Stein, the Angels' general manager. "Miller Field is rented from BYU, and BYU does the concessions." That also means that fans get to enjoy BYU Creamery ice cream.
Fans at Ogden Raptors games can drink up for less with the "Thirsty Batter" bonus. Every night, a batter is pre-selected, and if he gets a base hit, soft drinks and beer are discounted for 15 minutes. Ditto if someone hits a home run.
Nacho fast: Tacos, burritos, taco salads and "Super Nachos" are sold at Stingers games and at the USANA Amphitheater by Chile Verde, a local restaurant. At the Oldies Fest at Franklin Covey Field, the lines in front of the Chile Verde booths were almost as long as the beer lines.
"I've had their food before and it's really good," said Tami Riches of Taylorsville, one of those in line.
The Super Nachos ($6) featured tortilla chips piled with ground beef, beans, bits of tomato, olives, onions, sour cream, processed-type cheese and jalapenos. You could ladle on some rather watery pico de gallo. The taco salads are $5; bean & cheese burritos are $3.
Regular nachos, with the melted Velveeta-style sauce, are one of the biggest selling items at Lindquist Field in Ogden. "The first seven games, I went through 150 cases of nacho chips," said general manager Joey Stein.
Healthy choice: Lindquist Field offers a $2 veggie tray of nearly a dozen baby carrots, several celery sticks and a handful of broccoli florets with a little container of dip. Stein said it's not a huge seller, "But it was a request from one of our season ticket holders. She she buys one every time, so I know I'll sell at least one a night."
Pizza pizazz: Wasatch Pizza caters the USANA events, while Franklin Covey Field has gone the frozen Freschetta route. We found the Freschetta pepperoni pizza ($4.50) had a nice crisp crust, and the top was soft and cheesy.
Fowl ball: Chicken sandwiches are now a standard item at concessions. At USANA Amphitheater, the grilled chicken-breast sandwich is marinated overnight in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic and served on a fresh sheepherder's bun with Monterey Jack cheese. It was grilled almost black on the outside, and juicy and tender inside. The purple onion slices and Monterey Jack cheese were a good complement.
We tried the chicken sandwich at Franklin Covey Field and deemed it nearly on par with Wendy's and Chick-fil-A. Not one to chicken out, Miller Field in Provo offers a Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich.
Philadelphia freedom: Both Miller Field and USANA serve a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. We tried USANA's and found tender shavings of steak in a hoagie bun, lots of rich sauce with a hint of green pepper, topped with white American cheese. But, beware, it's so sauce-y you need a fork to eat it.
"On our second day in operation we sold a ton of them," said Beaulieu. "We had to raise our production because we didn't know it was going to go over that well."
Just chillin': The best selling snow-cone is "Tiger's Blood," a strawberry-coconut flavor, according to a Snowie vendor at Franklin Covey Field. They will set you back between $2.50 and $4.50, but hot summer nights can prompt folks to shell out to cool off. At the July 21 Stingers' game, two fans in the stands were vying for a roving vendor's last glass of lemonade. "I'll be back," the vendor told them as he took off with his empty tray, ala Schwarzenegger.
Most mystifying menu item: The fruit cup at Lindquist Field was on the menu so I asked for it, and was told they didn't have a fruit cup. When I pointed it out on the sign, several concession workers consulted with each other. Nobody knew what was in it, just that they were out of it.
Little sluggers: Lindquist Field offers a $3 kid's meal of either a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, corn dog or hot dog, chips and a toy. "But mostly they come for the Skittles and Nerds Ropes," said Troy Bond, the kids' concession stand worker.
Dollars and sense: Why the exhorbitant cost of $3 or $4 for a soft drink, and $3 to $6 for a hot dog or sandwich?
"We are more expensive in cost than the average restaurant, because we only have about 72 dates to sell products, so we don't get the same discounts as the major restaurants in the area," said Daniels. "But in comparison to other parks around the country, our food is, if not the same, a little lower."
"Amphitheaters are open for such a short window of time, so we have to charge more in order to make money," said Beaulieu. "We couldn't compare ourselves to Burger King, they don't pay such a large commission and facility fee. We are offering a better sandwich, and we spend more money making it, and we try to make people feel like they're getting a good value."
Stein said he tries to be price-sensitive with Lindquist Field's concessions. "In this market that we're in, if the prices go too high, I'll price myself right out of business."
About those peanuts and Cracker Jack: Do people still eat them? We asked Paul Watson, a vendor who was "hawking" them at Franklin Covey Field just after the crowd stood up during the seventh-inning stretch to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
"Sure, they do, this is America!" he said. "Didn't you hear the seventh-inning song?"
E-MAIL: vphillips@desnews.com